July 13, 2009

I was reading a post on the Steven Kent winery blog about a wine whose proceeds will benefit breast cancer research. My late mother survived breast cancer, so I'm interested in supporting the search for improved treatments.

The post closes with an invitation to buy the wine when it becomes available:

Approximately, 150 cases of the wine will be released on September 6th. If you want a terrific wine and to support a great cause look for this wine (it will be named shortly) in our store in September.

FWIW, I have two observations, which have general applicability to winery Web sites:

First, if you want people to take some action, make it easy for them. In this case, how about allowing me to provide my e-mail address so I can be notified when the wine becomes available? Heck, even a mailto: link would work. To their credit, Steven Kent provides the release date, but smart marketers know that convenience improves response. At the very least, knowing how many people are interested helps in making pricing decisions, which could lead to a larger donation for breast cancer research.

Second, why wait? Even though the wine won't be available until September 6th, why not let me place the order *right now* while I'm most interested in it?

Yes, there are some logistical issues involved (will your shopping cart support pre-orders, etc.), but once solved, they can use these same marketing techniques for all their wines, not just this one.

July 09, 2009

Some of the newer operations are using new marketing techniques to cope. Alpha Omega, a boutique winery in Rutherford, Calif., has begun using online services Facebook and Twitter to reach out to its customers. The winery three years ago began targeting consumers directly, and the strategy is now paying off; revenue is up 40% so far this year, compared with a year ago, in part because it doesn't have to share many revenues with a distributor, says co-owner Robin Baggett.

For small wineries (where margin is critical), direct sales are enhanced by social media interaction (blogs, Twitter, Facebook. For large wineries (where you don't have much direct interaction with customers), social media is a way to keep tabs on what people actually think of your product.

July 08, 2009

Sure, we'd all like to believe that people buy what we're selling simply because it's a great product. Wine makers have a lot invested in believing that their wines are terrific. And some fermented grape juice is better than others.

But regardless of how good your wine is, you'll sell more of it when you understand the You Factor and apply it to marketing and selling your wine.

"Which Acme Wine are you? Answer these three questions and we'll tell you the Acme wine that matches your personality." This, or some variation of it, is perfect for a Facebook page, where people will cheerfully take "Which X are you?" quizzes without a second thought.

But enough about what I think. What do you think of what I think? Leave a comment!

July 05, 2009

The game is to see if you can tell which of two Web pages did the better job of converting visitors. For example, one test offers two pages, each with the same three pricing options (expensive, less expensive, cheapest) for a virtual PBX service . Does it make a difference to people when you order them expensive to cheapest, or vice-versa? Of course it does! But which order? That's what you must answer.